British Parking Awards: Customer Service finalists

The Exceptional Customer Service Award, sponsored by Alpha Parking

APCOA Parking & Gatwick Airport: Gatwick Valet Parking
The opening of new valet parking facilities at Gatwick Airport is making what has long been a premium service available to more airport users.

Simon Hope, contract manager APCOA Parking: APCOA Parking operates and manages all Gatwick Airport’s public facing car parks, including South and North terminal Valet Parking operations.

Valet Parking has historically appealed to the business market and non-economy flyers. Valet was been seen as an expensive option which did not cater to the general market.

The decision was made to operate the valet product for the masses, but not at the expense of customer service delivery. A complete overhaul of the operation was brainstormed by APCOA with Gatwick Airport.

Gatwick Airport both invested in technology and made a step change by deciding to utilise two floors of the short-stay car parks. This doubled capacity and positioned the service strategically so that the customer can walk straight into the terminal from the valet drop-off area.

However, Valet Parking is now being sold through the Gatwick Airport website as a cost-effective alternative to the Long-Stay Car Park. This has meant that the official Gatwick Airport Valet product is still open to all types of traveller, ranging from business, holiday makers, weekenders and commuters, all of which can opt for additional services such as car care.

Bemrose Mobile: Providing excellent customer service
Multi-lingual displays, a pre-pay option, a ‘Find My Car’ button and tutorial videos on YouTube are among the many customer friendly ideas offered by the phone parking operator.

Nick Kibel of Bemrose Mobile: Phone and Pay is a rapidly growing cashless parking service which continues to develop and expand its marketing and communications platforms in order to meet the growing demands of customers and the industry. Bemrose Mobile seeks to provide exceptional customer service through listening to and acting on the demands of its clients. Ten of its key products are:

1. Smartphone application
2. ‘Find My Car’ button
3. Multi-lingual service
4. ‘Suspend’ and ‘Free Parking’ button
5. Monthly customer newsletter
6. Tutorial video on YouTube
7. Social media accounts (Twitter, LinkedIn)
8. Systems adaptations
9. Prepay Reward account
10. Pay by Cash

Howard Taylor, parking manager at Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, adds: “I was most impressed with how reactive Bemrose?Mobile were to the needs of their customers, and the speed of implementing the change was first class. It is extremely pleasing to see a "can do" approach being underpinned with the flexibility to deliver a change so quickly.”

Cambridge City Council: Mystery shopping exercise
Parking Associates carried out a mystery shopping exercise for the council to assist in assessing its car park operations.

Lynn Witham, director, Parking Associates: On Friday 1 June and Saturday 2 June five members of the consultant’s team spent either or two days in Cambridge, visiting the five council-run multi-storey car parks, checking their condition, using help points and speaking to customers and staff.

There were four different elements to the survey:

1. To evaluate the conditions of the multi-storeys
2. To carry out a survey to determine customer views of the car park
3. To assess the appearance, helpfulfulness and knowledge of the car park staff
4. To assess the effectiveness of the Shopmobility service.

Overall the car park service in Cambridge was found to be very good, with well-informed and helpful staff, and the Shopmobility service was excellent. The council’s website was also one of the best Parking Associates had seen in terms of car park information. The team was particularly impressed with the ability to get up-to-date information on car park occupancy.

Ealing Council: Driving customer satisfaction
Virtual permits and ‘Stop and Shop’ bays are among initiatives aimed at improving life for residents and retailers in west London.

Barry Francis, assistant director of parking, Ealing Council: Ealing?Parking Services provides parking solutions to the borough’s road users, who are made up from a number of different sections of society, including residents, businesses and their customers, visitors to the borough and commuters.

The parking options offered by the service are made up of both on and off-street parking places and approximately 30,000 on-street parking places.

The council also provides a number of limited waiting free bays, named ‘Stop and Shop’ bays which encourage motorists to use local businesses for their shopping needs.

The council has over 30,000 permit holders, which have traditionally been labour-intensive to manage. Ealing recognised that technicological advancement, in terms of web-based services and real-time verification procedures through GPRS and ANPR systems, could potentially assist in streamlining both permit application and enforcement processes. Web-based services are regarded by the council as a more efficient way of capturing data to ensure to ensure it reviews and implements appropriate parking restrictions.

The parking team is using technology to improve customer experiences when they access parking services. In particular, it is using new media and the internet.

Ealing?Parking Services has also sought to strengthen relations with local businesses to ensure that its approach to the management of customers reflects the symbiotic nature of town centre and local business district commerce.

Total Car Parks
A commitment to resolving potential problems promptly means Total Car Parks has not had a single complaint over the past year.

Essy Eslamian, managing director, Total Car Parks: Total Car Parks offers a full range of car park operation services including site management and enforcement and the development of unused land.

Managing over 30 sites, the company has experienced continued growth since its founding just four years ago, allowing it to establish a national portfolio of managed, owned and leased sites.

Customers are at the heart of the company and, therefore, it is a business based around offering the highest level of customer service. Total Car Parks believes that over the years the industry has received negative publicity which the company feels is an unfair judgement on an industry that has the potential to provide the best customer service levels across the country.

Total Car Parks has a commitment to making every effort to act responsibly as a company, representing the industry by providing a high level of customer service and by promoting the positive changes the industry has made through regular news releases in both regional and industry publications.

Total Car Parks endeavours to respond to any customer complaints promptly to resolve issues quickly and professionally. Any feedback received is taken seriously by the customer service and administration team, it is always fed back to me as the director of the company and the appropriate actions are taken to respond responsibly, recognising that the actions of the company reflect on the industry as a whole. These efforts have paid off for the company as in the last 12 months - Total Car Parks has not received one customer complaint.